Willow's story
by Lynita
Summary: When Dally and Johnny are gone, how do the rest move on, espically with Willow Coulter, Dally's cousin as a new member of the gang?
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

"We got two minutes."

"I'm going, I'm going!" The long thin hands of the girl flew about the lock as she knelt beside the door.

"Well hurry it up! We don't got all day!"

The girl rolled her eyes and jiggled with the lock for another moment. "There," She said, the finality ringing in her voice. Pulling the pistol from her waist band, the girl entered the house. The man and his two friends weren't far behind.

"Check the place out. Take what we can." The large man who had the build of a bodybuilder was obviously in charge. The two wiry youths and the girl nodded before heading out in different directions. The girl headed for the bedrooms of the house. The first was clear; it seemed to be a guest room and had no personal belongings covering the walls. The second appeared to belong to a teenage girl, make up and pictures of boys everywhere. The girl holding the pistol smirked as she looked around. Nothing there was overly valuable or worth stealing. Next was the bedroom of the parents. In the closet there was a small portable safe box. Grabbing that the girl smiled, this was what she wanted. All they needed now was a key to open the box and they were home free. Sticking her head out of the bedroom, the girl called down the hall. "Garrett, I got the box, just need the key!" The bodybuilder like man lumbered down the hall with a grin on his face.

"Good. Get searching. Tyler, Don!" He called, naming the other two men who were in the house with them. The skinny boys slipped into the room silently. "Take all the jewellery you can. "

The girl had returned to her task searching for the key. On the bedside table there was a small circular case with the words 'yo-yo' printed on the front. That was a strange place to keep a toy. Opening the circular case, the girl saw the promised yo-yo in side. To get a better look, she picked it up and examined the nearly transparent red surface. When she looked back down to the case, the girl noticed a key that might just fit the lock that needed to be opened. Pulling it out she smiled triumphantly and grabbed the box. The key was a perfect fit and the box sprang open at the turn. There were three envelopes inside, all filled with cash. There was a fourth with the family passports. Also inside was the family's good jewellery. They were smart, but not that smart. The girl grabbed the most expensive looking pieces, and headed for the others. Outside, she thought that she heard the wail of a siren but brushed it off.

"Alright boys, I got the cash and the good jewels. Let's blow this popsicle stand." She said her smile smug. Garrett, Tyler, and Don all looked up as she entered and grinned. The group rejoined and headed for the front door. The girl could have sworn she heard more sirens and voices but continued anyways. As she was walking, the girl dropped one of the rings and bent to pick it up while the others continued outside. When she rejoined them, the girl saw all of her friends in handcuffs, being shoved roughly into the back of a state trooper's car. "Great," She muttered as troopers with guns out came moving in on her. Raising her hands, the girl felt the cuffs being tossed carelessly onto her wrists. Moments later she 

too was shoved into the back of a trooper's car. They sat there for a few moments, before someone pounded on the roof and the trooper took off.

The man that was to take her to the station was over –weight and reminded her of the trooper's from TV, the ones who ate donuts all the time. He was watching he in the rear-view mirror while his partner turned fully around to talk with her.

"So, you got yourself into some trouble, eh little girl?" This man was slim and had a pockmarked face. His large nose and sneer made him ugly and the girl took an immediate dislike to him.

"What's it to ya?" She asked, turning her head away from the man and looking out the window. She was disappointed in herself for getting caught. Never, once before, had she ever been caught. It was disappointing to see that streak end now, especially after so long of being on top with her gang of criminals.

"Oi! Be nice, we don't bite." He said turning back around to look out the windshield. By judging his body language, the conversation was obviously over. The girl rested her head against the glass window and waited for the ride to end.

It was a while before they reached the police station and even longer until they had checked her in and put her into a holding cell. It was now time for the old good cop bad cop routine if she remembered correctly from the TV. This was something she was actually looking forward to. They had moved her from the holding cell into an interrogation room and removed the handcuffs. There were two chairs opposite her, neither one filled by officers. Along one wall ran a large glass panel. One from which officers could see in but she could not see out.

After about twenty minutes in the interrogation room, the state trooper's entered and took their seats. One of the troopers had brought a file folder with him that he plopped down onto the table and opened it. "So, it's Willow Coulter, is it?" The man said naming the girl. "Well, Miss Coulter, it has come to my attention that this is not your first offence. Your parents have decided that you are unruly and do not believe that they can take care of you anymore. You will be moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma to live with your cousin's there." The officer said, never once raising his eyes to meet Willow's. For a moment she just sat there, dumbstruck by all the news that had just been piled onto her. "Oh, and your bails been posted. The social service worker has your belongings pack and ready to go. You leave today. Since it was only an attempted robbery, the family has decided not to press charges against you. Garrett however, will be serving a year." The trooper said. Looking about the room, he stood and nodded to his partner and left the room. Willow and the other man stood, leaving the room together. Outside a woman in a grey skirt suit was waiting.

"Willow Coulter? Hello, I'm Mary Sampson. I'm here to take you to Tulsa. My car's outside. Your parents say goodbye and they love you." The woman said. She looked Willow over momentarily. "Shall we?" The woman said turning and heading for the door, not waiting for a response. Willow deftly followed the woman outside and into the 1966 Ford Fairlane. From there, she watched as Don and Tyler emerged 

from the State Trooper station. However, a side of Willow told her she would not see them again. This was the last that Willow would ever see of Texas.

END OF CHAPTER ONE


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

Many hours later, Willow and Mary were pulling up to the house of her cousins, the Winston's. It had been a while since she had heard from the family and didn't know much about them, other than the fact that their son and her cousin Dallas had just died a few months ago. He had been part of a gang and somehow that had lead to his death. The Winston parents weren't exactly the most responsible bunch either but that suited Willow just fine. She was used to being alone. As they approached, Mary had told her that Dallas' mother Elizabeth was trying to make up for all of her wrong doings by being sweet and kind. So far she was succeeding. Dallas' father never came home and when he did, he used to beat Dally. That also suited Willow fine. She would keep away from Lloyd Winston as much as she possibly could.

As the car finally rolled to a stop in the Winston's driveway, Willow got out. She gave the place the once over and smirked. It was no palace but she wasn't used to anything fantastic either. Grabbing her suitcase and duffle, Willow headed for the door, Mary right beside her. Mary knocked on the door and it was opened by Elizabeth.

"You must be Willow!" She cried, hugging her. "It's been so long since I've seen you!"

"I'm Mary Sampson. Here's my card if you ever need anything." Mary said handing the piece of paper over with a smile. "I must get going though, long drive home."

"Yes, yes, of course!" Elizabeth smiled. "Lovely to meet you Mary!" She called as the woman walked back to her car and left. It was now just Elizabeth and Willow. "Come in dear, I'll show you to your room. You can get settled and then I've arranged for some of Dallas' old friends to show you around." Elizabeth smiled. She headed off up the stairs. She was a thin woman and looked much like her son. They both shared the same white blonde hair, as Willow could tell from photos and a reckless twinkle lit both their faces.

At the end of the hall upstairs, there were two rooms, one to the left and the other to the right. The left would become Willow's. It had been Dallas' room but now that he was gone, it belonged to Willow. But it seemed as though Elizabeth hadn't changed anything. The room still looked lived in. That thought was a bit eerie to Willow as she entered and put her stuff down.

"Well, honey, you get comfortable. Sodapop, Darry, and Ponyboy will be here in about half an hour." She said. Willow smirked again to refrain from laughing. Those were strange names to her. She was used to growing up with Keith's and Michaels and Samuels. Not Sodapops. That was strange but everything here seemed to be standing on head.

From here on out I'm going to let Willow tell her story. After all it is hers to tell.

END OF CHAPTER TWO


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

It was strange for me, moving across a state and into a completely different family. I hadn't expected everything to be so different, yet so similar. It was only when I began to unpack my belongings that I truly began to realize the harsh reality. I was here now and I couldn't go back. There would be no more heists with Garrett, Don, and Tyler. No smoking in the back lot of Gravenhurst's Country Store and getting chased away with a shotgun. That was all over for me now. I was supposed to behave or be put into the foster care system. That didn't seem like such a bad idea if I could get back to Gravenhurst. It was strange, but I was actually starting to miss the town of hellions. Now, here I was in Tulsa, Oklahoma, sitting in the room of a dead guy waiting for three wise guys name Sodapop, Ponyboy, and Darry. This would not be fun. They would probably all be preps and goody-two-shoes. Not my type of guy if you asked me.

I went to check out the bathroom and finish my unpacking there. There was a simple yellow counter with a small sink, a toilet, and a shower. It must have been the bathroom shared by all in the household since everyone's toiletries were there. I put my stuff down then took a look at my reflection in the mirror. If I wasn't from such a torn up background, I could have been pretty. I had long naturally honey coloured hair. It fell in long corkscrew curls that seemed to be in style currently. I had large grey eyes that never seemed to choose weather they wanted to be dull or bright and a soft round mouth with a pouty lower lip. I also have a small button nose. So yeah, I guess you could say I was pretty.

Leaving the bathroom, I headed downstairs to wait for the three weirdly named guys. Elizabeth was humming in the kitchen and I took a seat on the old battered couch as I waited for the three. I turned on the old TV and watched some cartoons for a few minutes before there was a knock at the door.

"Oh Willow, that'll be them! Get the door would you?" She called as she bustled about the kitchen.

I rose to my feet and with slow steps opened the door. I had never known my cousin and had no idea of what kind of boys he would hang out with. All I knew was they were going to show me around town and get to know me so I wouldn't be completely lonely when the summer was over and school began again. I was going into my senior year and turning eighteen in December. Answering the door, I mustered a smirk and apprised the three who waited on the door step. The first was short, young looking. He could have only been about fifteen. He had hair that was an odd shade between blond and brown, the remnants of bleach still showing. The second was taller and handsome. He had movie star good looks and a carefree look in his eye. It was very different from the one I had seen in pictures of Dallas. This one was warm and almost caused my smirk to change into a smile. The last was the tallest and built a lot like Garrett. He was muscular and seemed a bit off. The two shorter boys had greased back hair and wore white t-shirts, jeans, and leather jackets. The taller one had close cropped hair and wore a tight black shirt instead of a white one. The taller one was where I found my attentions drifting.

"These are the Curtis brothers," Elizabeth said, coming up behind me. "That's Ponyboy, Sodapop, and Darry." She said indicating to them in order of height, shortest to tallest. "Boys, this is my niece, Willow Coulter. Take good care of her and I want her home by midnight. Understand?" Elizabeth said with a 

smile that alluded otherwise. Sodapop was the only one who seemed to catch that and gave a wicked grin. Ponyboy shot him a look and Darry smiled.

"She'll be home by then Mrs.Winston." Darry said to the woman before turning and heading to the car. Ponyboy sauntered behind him but Sodapop waited for me.

"Come on!" He said and before I could stop him, he flipped off the steps. Standing there for a moment I was unsure if he would land it, but a call of "Show off!" From the car reassured me and I followed, only back flipping myself.

When I turned about, Soda was grinning and Pony sat mouth open. I guess they hadn't thought I was that talented. Giving off my famous smirk I headed over to the car and slid in beside Darry in the front. He gave an inclination that a smile might form on his lips before it disappeared. He turned his attention away from me and the other two. His jaw line tightened as he focused on the road and kicked the car into drive.

We coasted about the town for the greater part of the hour, listening to Soda give the commentary and a bit of history for each place we passed. They just seemed to be enjoying the fun of the evening. About an hour later though, we pulled into a park and got out of the car. We were pretty close to where Soda had pointed out the Curtis house. The three boys got out of the car and I followed their lead. The park was pretty basic. There was some rusty equipment and a sand pit. Somewhere near the middle of the park, there was a fountain. Other than that it was all wide open fields. There was a street lamp overtopping of the play equipment and basking in the glow of that light were a few teenage boys.

Darry, Soda, and Pony all went over to them grinning and joking. I found myself following a bit slower, a bit intimidated by the large group. I could feel my automatic defence system go up. I hung back a bit surveying the scene for a moment, trying to pick out who I could trust. Soda seemed to notice that I hadn't come over and he strolled back, followed by a teen with complicated swirls in his greasy hair. He looked about seventeen and had just as reckless a smile as Soda.

"Come on! Don't just stand there, you've gotta meet the guys!" He grinned, jerking a thumb towards the rest of the gang. Soda span on his heel and jogged back with the other boy on his heels. I followed behind and stood just outside of the light of the streetlamp, hugging myself against the warmth of it all. Darry noticed me and walked over, the rest of the guys seemed to quiet. It was becoming obvious that Darry was somewhat the leader.

"All of you shut up long enough so I can introduce Willow to ya!" He barked at them Soda and his friend struck very three stooges like military poses and waited for Darry to correct them. He rolled his eyes and started with the guy closest to Pony.

"Willow, this is Two-Bit Matthews." Darry said, nodding to the teen. He looked almost as old as Darry did and had been caught in conversation with Ponyboy until Darry had called his name. Two-Bit turned and grinned, grabbing my hand and dropping his lips towards it. Before he could kiss my hand, I turned it palm up and smacked him square on the nose. Two-Bit dropped my hand and I stared at him for a 

moment. Two-Bit just looked down, shocked that I had hit him, before regaining a bit of his composure and straightening up. That had earned a hush from the rest of the boys and Soda watched me with a grin. I shot a quick smirk in his direction before moving onto the next person. That was the one who I had met earlier, Soda's three stooges pal. "This is Steve Randle." Darry said. Steve kept his distance and offered a 'hey' instead. I nodded to him then looked to Darry. "Willow is Dally's cousin. She's come to live with his parents. She's one of us now." A wave of confusion swept through the boys. Even Pony and Soda looked shocked.

"She's a girl!" Two-Bit exclaimed his eyes wide and a red mark growing on his nose.

"No really." Soda said flatly.

"But she'll just get hurt or in the way." Pony blurted. My eyebrows shot up at that comment. I turned to face all of them, suddenly interested. My smirk returned.

"I can fight." I said quietly, looking straight ahead. "I know how to steal, how to run, how to disappear. I know what I'm doing. But do you?" I challenged, letting it hang for whoever was brave enough to fight a girl. I looked straight at Steve, for some reason I wanted to fight him the most. Slowly he nodded and I grinned.

"Alright, if Willow beats Steve, she's in. If she doesn't then she's out." Darry said. He smiled at me.

Steve and I stepped under the spotlight of the streetlamp and the others seemed to make a circle around us. I was completely focused on winning, showing them that I was as good as anyone. Just as we were about to start trading blows, a honk from a car brought my attention and everyone else's out of the circle. There was a mustang pulling up with about five guys in it. Right behind was another mustang with another two guys and two girls in the back. The guys got out of the car and stumbled towards us drunk. Darry stiffened beside me, as did everyone else.

I had once heard about the feud between the socs and the greasers from Soda in the car. The socs were the ones who were responsible for the hate and anger that divided the rich and the poor. I heard a switch blade open to my right and saw that it was Two-Bit who wielded it. It was obvious from their appearance that the socs wanted a fight and it seemed that we were going to give them one. We had seemed to form ranks. Darry was infront and center of our group. Flanking his right was Soda and on his left was Two-Bit. Behind Soda was Steve and on Two-Bit's left stood Pony. I found myself directly behind Darry. He stared at the first soc. Their leader.

I couldn't focus with the tension of the space and looked around, my eyes finding the two girls. One was a red head with a shocked and anxious expression on her face. I guess I was the cause for alot of shock that evening.

"So, who's the whore?" The socs slurred, indicating with his bottle in my direction. I stared back at him, feeling very bare and vulnerable. I wanted to take this guy out and not because he called me a whore. It seemed in his drunken stupor he had seen right into me and I didn't like it. I felt my cheeks burn in an angry blush and I set my jaw. Anger was radiating off of me and all in Darry's gang seemed to notice it. 

Soda looked back at me with a worried expression for a moment, and I stared cold, straight forward at the soc.

"Come 'ere honey, I'll show ya a good time!" He taunted, receiving a chorus of drunken laughter from the men behind him. Suddenly, they all dropped to the ground and broke their bottles, waving them threateningly. "Not gonna come? Fine, we'll come get ya!" He called and in a momentary flurry, both sides rushed forwards and a brawl broke out. The greasers were outnumbered by two and one came towards me, the other helped the lead soc take on Darry, who was obviously the strongest. I concentrated on the one who was headed in my direction. He had a broken bottle in his hand. Taking a swing at my head, the man grunted. I ducked and landed a punch in his stomach. This caused him to drop the bottle. This evened the odds a bit, and caused my smirk to return. He straightened up quickly and threw a punch for my head. His fist was too low and the shot caught me square in the chest, just shy of my heart. I felt all the wind fly from me as I stumbled backwards. He was smart enough to press his advantage and came at me again, landing a solid punch in my gut. I doubled over but remained upright. He threw a foot upwards to catch me in the face and I dove for the dirt, avoiding the contact and a broken nose. I didn't need any more pain interrupting my concentration. I was already having a hard enough time keeping my mind off of the throbbing pain in my chest. I looked around to see that everyone else was still tied up and I would have to finish this on my own, fast. Jumping up from my position on the ground, I launched myself at his waist, taking us both back to the ground. Straddling his waist, I threw punch after punch at his face. Soon, he flipped on top of me and returned the favour. Throwing my trapped hips upwards, I offset his balance and threw a hard punch into his face, hearing the satisfying crack of a broken nose. Tossing him off of me, I waited, making sure he wasn't about to get up. The man lay there for a while before running back to his car. I turned my attentions to everyone else.

Ponyboy was not only the youngest but the closest to me and in need of some help. I ran over to him and side tackled his opponent. The other man hit the ground and I resumed my position on top of a man, pounding his face in. Soon enough bruises began to show and I felt Pony pulling me off of him. I let him, allowing the man to get up and run. I tossed Pony a smile and surveyed the rest of the field. The rest of the socs had run off, Pony's boy was the last one about and all the greasers had been watching me open mouthed. Soda rushed over, hugged me and he and Steve hoisted me into the air. I felt like hell. I knew I looked like it too. I was hurt all over but couldn't help smiling. I had helped us beat the socs. We had won!

When Steve and Soda let me down, everyone seemed to crowd around me, giving me hugs and pats on the back. The adrenaline rush was incredible. It felt so good to have proved myself. All the hugs were incredible as well and I relished in them. Finally, we all drifted over to the equipment and sat on the swings. Well, I sat on the swing and the rest seemed to sit wherever they could. Darry regained everyone's attention.

"Does anyone have a complaint if we invite Willow to join the gang?" He asked. No one said anything but Two-Bit raised his hand.

"She needs a nickname. Willow makes her sound to girly." He said grinning.

Soda and Steve nodded, "Agreed." Pony said.

"Alright, anyone have any suggestions?" Darry asked, scanning the faces of those in the area.

"I got one," Soda piped up. "How 'bout Pup? She's the new kid and dogs are good fighters. There you go." Soda smiled. Everyone seemed to like the name and Darry nodded.

"Alright, Willow 'Pup' Coulter. I like it." He grinned.

So I was accepted, so I had a name. I was part of the Curtis brothers gang and wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. It was good.

END OF CHAPTER THREE


End file.
